Neither Qatar nor any other country has the ability to replace Russian gas supplies to Europe with liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the event of interruptions due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

The United States and its European allies are going to announce new sanctions against Russia after the recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Sanctions may affect the flow of Russian gas to Europe.

“Russia [provides] I think 30-40 per cent of the supply to Europe. There is no single country that can replace that kind of volume, there isn’t the capacity to do that from LNG,” minister Saad al-Kaabi told reporters at a gas conference in Doha.

Qatar, one of the world's leading LNG producers, recently received an offer from the US to divert gas supplies to Europe in the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine and US sanctions against Moscow.

Most of its volume is locked into long-term contracts, mainly for Asian buyers, but it also ships to Europe.

Kaabi said that for Qatar, the volume of redirected contracts that can be sent to Europe is only 10-15%.